Job 38
1 But the Lord, responding to Job from a whirlwind, said:
And the Lord made answer to Job out of the storm-wind, and said,
2 Who is this that wraps sentences in unskilled words?
Who is this who makes the purpose of God dark by words without knowledge?
3 Gird your waist like a man. I will question you, and you must answer me.
Get your strength together like a man of war; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.
4 Where were you, when I set the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
Where were you when I put the earth on its base? Say, if you have knowledge.
5 Who set its measurements, if you know, or who stretched a line over it?
By whom were its measures fixed? Say, if you have wisdom; or by whom was the line stretched out over it?
6 Upon what have its bases been grounded, and who set forth its cornerstone,
On what were its pillars based, or who put down its angle-stone,
7 when the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful noise?
When the morning stars made songs together, and all the sons of the gods gave cries of joy?
8 Who enclosed the sea with doors, when it broke forth as if issuing from the womb,
Or where were you when the sea came to birth, pushing out from its secret place;
9 when I stationed a cloud as its garment and wrapped it in a mist as if swaddling an infant?
When I made the cloud its robe, and put thick clouds as bands round it,
10 I encircled it with my limits, and I positioned its bars and doors.
Ordering a fixed limit for it, with locks and doors;
11 And I said: “This far you will approach, and you will proceed no further, and here you will break your swelling waves.”
And said, So far you may come, and no farther; and here the pride of your waves will be stopped?
12 Did you, after your birth, command the birth of the sun and show the sunrise its place?
Have you, from your earliest days, given orders to the morning, or made the dawn conscious of its place;
13 And did you hold the extremities of the earth, shaking them, and have you shaken the impious out of it?
So that it might take a grip of the skirts of the earth, shaking all the evil-doers out of it?
14 The seal will be restored like clay, and it will remain in place like a garment.
It is changed like wet earth under a stamp, and is coloured like a robe;
15 From the impious, the light will be taken away, and the exalted arm will be broken.
And from the evil-doers their light is kept back, and the arm of pride is broken.
16 Have you entered the depths of the sea, and have you taken a walk in the uttermost parts of the abyss?
Have you come into the springs of the sea, walking in the secret places of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been opened to you, and have you seen the doors of darkness?
Have the doors of death been open to you, or have the door-keepers of the dark ever seen you?
18 Have you considered the breadth of the earth? If you know all things, reveal them to me.
Have you taken note of the wide limits of the earth? Say, if you have knowledge of it all.
19 Which is the way that holds the light, and which is the place of darkness?
Which is the way to the resting-place of the light, and where is the store-house of the dark;
20 In this way, you might lead each thing to its final place, and understand the paths of its house.
So that you might take it to its limit, guiding it to its house?
21 So then, did you know when you were to be born? And did you know the number of your days?
No doubt you have knowledge of it, for then you had come to birth, and the number of your days is great.
22 Have you been admitted into the storehouses of the snows, and have you gazed upon the stockpile of the brimstone,
Have you come into the secret place of snow, or have you seen the store-houses of the ice-drops,
23 which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, for the day of the battle and the war?
Which I have kept for the time of trouble, for the day of war and fighting?
24 In what way is the light scattered, and the heat distributed, over the earth?
Which is the way to the place where the wind is measured out, and the east wind sent out over the earth?
25 Who gave a course to the rainstorms, and a path to the resounding thunder,
By whom has the way been cut for the flowing of the rain, and the flaming of the thunder;
26 so that it would rain on the earth far from man, in the wilderness where no mortal lingers,
Causing rain to come on a land where no man is living, on the waste land which has no people;
27 so that it would fill impassable and desolate places, and would bring forth green plants?
To give water to the land where there is waste and destruction, and to make the dry land green with young grass?
28 Who is the father of rain, or who conceived the drops of dew?
Has the rain a father? or who gave birth to the drops of night mist?
29 From whose womb did the ice proceed, and who created the frost from the air?
Out of whose body came the ice? and who gave birth to the cold mist of heaven?
30 The waters are hardened to become like stone, and the surface of the abyss freezes over.
The waters are joined together, hard as a stone, and the face of the deep is covered.
31 Will you have the strength to join together the sparkling stars of the Pleiades, or are you able to disperse the circling of Arcturus?
Are the bands of the Pleiades fixed by you, or are the cords of Orion made loose?
32 Can you bring forth the morning star, in its time, and make the evening star rise over the sons of the earth?
Do you make Mazzaroth come out in its right time, or are the Bear and its children guided by you?
33 Do you know the order of heaven, and can you explain its rules here on the earth?
Have you knowledge of the laws of the heavens? did you give them rule over the earth?
34 Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that an onslaught of waters will cover you?
Is your voice sent up to the cloud, so that you may be covered by the weight of waters?
35 Can you send forth lightning bolts, and will they go, and on returning, say to you: “Here we are?”
Do you send out the thunder-flames, so that they may go, and say to you, Here we are?
36 Who placed discernment in the guts of man, or who gave the rooster intelligence?
Who has put wisdom in the high clouds, or given knowledge to the lights of the north?
37 Who can describe the rules of the heavens, or who can put to rest the harmony of heaven?
By whose wisdom are the clouds numbered, or the water-skins of the heavens turned to the earth,
38 When was the dust cast to become the earth, and when were its clods fastened together?
When the earth becomes hard as metal, and is joined together in masses?
39 Will you seize prey for the lioness, and will you sustain the lives of her young,
Do you go after food for the she-lion, or get meat so that the young lions may have enough,
40 as they rest in their dens or lie in wait in pits?
When they are stretched out in their holes, and are waiting in the brushwood?
41 Who provides the raven with its meal, when her chicks cry out to God, as they wander around because they have no food?
Who gives in the evening the meat he is searching for, when his young ones are crying to God; when the young lions with loud noise go wandering after their food?
